Eva (Sisson) Maglott, AB 1878, Hon. D. 1909, was Ohio Northern University’s first female faculty member. She taught STEM subjects—mathematics and astronomy—to ONU students at a time in U.S. history when few, if any, women worked in STEM fields.
Eva was born circa 1860 in Fort Smith, Arkansas. When just a small girl, she moved to Ohio with her parents when Union forces were forced to evacuate the fort during the Civil War.
Most young girls in Eva’s day were not encouraged in scholarly pursuits. Eva’s parents, however, were described as “studious and fond of books” and they inspired her quest for knowledge.
When Eva was little, her father would take her outside to gaze at the night sky. She would ask him how the distance to the stars the was measured. He would tell her she was too young to know, but that someday she could learn.
At age 16, she entered the National Normal University at Lebanon, Ohio, and she later graduated from Ohio Northern University (then called Northwestern Normal School) in 1878 with an A.B. degree from the Classical Course. After graduating, she went to Butler University, then returned to Ada in 1880.
That summer, she married Frederick Maglott, one of the four original owners of ONU and an ONU professor. She then began teaching mathematics and Latin courses at ONU in 1881, and continued teaching until her death in 1916. Between 1902 and 1904 she served as the Preceptress, a position in which she oversaw the school’s female students.
Eva possessed a brilliant mind. In 1883, representatives from ONU attended the Chicago World’s Fair. The mathematical display model she created won several awards and topped students from the Ivy League Schools.
In addition to her teaching duties, Eva “did all her own work at home and attended to her social duties of the town and college,” according to local newspaper accounts. For 12 years, she hosted an annual reception for ONU’s entire military battalion.
Among engineering students, she was a beloved teacher. They called her “mother” and she called them “her boys.” Upon her death, ONU’s founder Henry Solomon Lehr said, “Among the many women educators of my acquaintance, I would place Mrs. Maglott’s name in the foremost rank.”
In March 1916, ill health forced Eva to request a leave of absence to recuperate at the Bowling Green Sanatorium, but unfortunately her underlying health problems proved severe. By late May, Eva had returned to Ada where she died on June 8, 1916.